Team Sport
by LittleLadyBigDreamer
Summary: Flynn wants to share Eve's interests and comes up with what he thinks is a brilliant plan to do so. He's trying.


Flynn fell through the door of Eve's apartment, after finding out that that's where she was from a disgruntled and disturbed Jenkins who was "very much enjoying the peace and quiet which was so rare around the Annex these days". The Librarian winced and attempted to gather all his flailing limbs as he very nearly crashed into the dining table which he immediately knew he couldn't complain about since it had been his idea to buy one in the first place. He liked dining tables, they reminded him of home and his mother's Sunday dinners, the only time he'd ever agree to not read at the table. He liked feeling that he and Eve were their own family, both together and with the other Librarians and Jenkins (that one time they'd dragged him out of his lab), although it wasn't hard for him to admit that he preferred the former occasions. He couldn't help it, he'd been alone for so long and now there was someone he wanted to spend all his time with and better yet someone who actually wanted to spend time with him...and love him...and kiss him and oh her kisses. They left him dizzy and unable to speak despite the fact he spoke several languages (including the language of the birds - seven hours he noted smugly). He recalled the night of Christmas Eve, her birthday, once they'd returned from the party the others had thrown for her (which he was pretty sure wasn't a surprise to her) and he'd made his famous hot chocolate which he had always promised to make her (could he call it famous if it had only ever been drunk by himself, Judson and a reluctant Charlene? Well he was going to anyway) and they had settled down on the two chairs closest to the little window overlooking the dimly lit street. While he had been making their drinks and adding several secret ingredients and toppings Eve had grabbed a blanket and they had tucked themselves under it, Eve relaxing back into him, his arms enveloping her, and they sat in silence and watched the snow fall.

Flynn was pulled from his thoughts by fierce shouts coming from the living room. He cautiously made his way to the next room, bewilderment evident on his face. His eyes met the sight of Eve and Jake, in matching blue and white football jerseys, beers in hand, popcorn surrounding them. Flynn glanced over at the screen and it all made a little more sense. Oh yeah. Otters. Portland's...not very good football team, not that he knew a huge amount about the current teams (not that he'd admit he didn't know) but Eve had mentioned to him one day that she and Jake would be watching the game just in case he had any plans for them (he didn't but it was nice to know she didn't want to ruin any plans the two of them might have). Neither Stone nor Eve had ever particularly supported the Otters, or watched one of their games for that matter, but both were loyal people and since they lived in Portland now they kinda felt like they should. He had assigned the fact that it was a sport to their enthusiasm ever since they had watched their first game together. Usually he was out on a mission or at the Annex while a game was on and thus had rarely been privy to their complete animation while watching. But now he could not take his eyes off Eve (a part of his brain retorted something about that not being different to any other day). She was literally sitting on the edge of her seat, eyes wide and filled with pure excitement and joy. Passion. She was passionate, something he rather reluctantly admitted he'd never really seen in her before (aside from the way she looked at him that made heart rate increase and his knees weak). It lit up her whole face and left a sparkle in her eyes that made them more enchanting than he could ever have imagined them to be. She looked...beautiful.

A whistle indicated it was half time and as the two spectators turned to each other to discuss the prospect of more beers they noticed the formally-dressed Librarian leaning against the doorway. After a chorus of "heys" Jake got up to go to the fridge, patting Flynn on the shoulder as he did. Eve got up to meet Flynn as he edged forward a few steps, smiling up at him as she wrapped her arms around his waist, a move which he reciprocated.

"You're back" Eve acknowledged, her cheerfulness made evident by her ever growing smile.

"Yup", Flynn nodded in reply, bringing up his hand to brush her hair behind her ear.

"Mission successful?"

"Of course. Artifact safe in the Library, you safe in my arms, my day is turning out to be surprisingly good" he grinned as she moved her hands from his waist to around his neck.

She sighed in relief and contentment as she closed her eyes and tilted her head forward until it met his. "Missed you" she whispered.

She hadn't wanted to leave him alone on a mission but since it was a relatively easy 'grab and dash' job and he knew it was game day he'd assured her he'd be fine and would be back before she was gone (okay so it took a little longer than he expected but how was he supposed to know about the Spriggans?!) Flynn closed his eyes, breathing in her scent; her floral perfume, apple shampoo and a hint of the beer she had just finished lingered in the air between them. "Missed you too" he whispered back. Okay so he hadn't been gone for that long but they'd been apart enough since they'd become..."them" that they appreciated any moment they had together, plus in their line of work and taking into account the fact that they'd both almost died a little over a year ago, they never took each other or their time together for granted. He kissed her softly and as they parted asked "having fun?"

"We just got a touchdown so we're milking it for all it's worth right now" she laughed.

"Good, that's...good", his lack of knowledge about the sport letting him down slightly in his response.

"You stickin' around Librarian?"

"No. Well...yeah. Kinda. Um...Cassandra's working on a new theory of...uh...something...she said it really fast so I'm not really sure what exactly I've volunteered myself for but I uh...I promised", a tinge of regret hanging in his voice.

Eve tried not to laugh at the irony of his statement, not wanting to point out just how similar he and the redhead were. "Okay. I'll see you tonight then?"

He nodded as he acknowledged from the corner of his eye that Stone had returned to the room. "Tonight." A warm feeling developed inside him as he envisioned spending another night tangled up with her, embracing her in the silence of the night, no impending doom, no squabbling Librarians, no fictional villains, just them. Aware of Stone's presence he gave her a quick peck on the nose before he turned to leave, trying to recall exactly what it was Cassandra had excitedly shouted at him.

"Have fun!" Eve called out behind him, returning to her spot on the couch where Jake sat beside her smirking. "What?" she asked firmly, narrowing her eyes, not liking the look on his face one bit.

"Tonight?" he questioned, eyebrows raised, grin growing ever wider.

"Shut up!" she laughed, blushing, before grabbing a few pieces of popcorn and launching them at his face.

It was about twenty minutes into Cassandra's excited ramblings about acoustic spectroscopy, and about five minutes after Jones had interrupted her and she'd knocked over her collection of highlighters in an attempt to enthrall him with her theory that Flynn's mind wandered back to the fearless blonde that had stolen his heart...well pretty much from the moment he met her (even with his help, disarming a bomb, fighting off two assailants and watching his back all at the same time? He was impressed. Added to the banter that had developed between them instantly, it all made for a very memorable first meeting, which is probably why he didn't expel her from the Library too quickly when he saw her next in New York). She'd looked so happy sitting there with Stone, not that he was jealous or anything he knew their relationship was nothing but platonic, plus Eve had once told him that the reason she loved hanging out with Jake so much was because she'd never had siblings or anyone that she shared interests with whom she didn't have to leave behind once her work forced her to relocate, and she imagined that this was kind of what it was like. This side of her was something that he loved seeing and he wanted to see more of it, even more than that, he wanted to be part of it, he wanted to enjoy the things that she enjoyed. Then it hit him. Eve had mentioned there were a few games going on that week, something about playoffs or something, and an idea wormed its way into the frenzied mind of the besotted Librarian. A jersey! He would get himself a jersey made (but not the traditional kind, he'd worn one once in high school having been forced to at least attend a game in order to get gym credit for the year but the material was all itchy and bleugh and he spent the next few days plagued with rashes) and clue up on the Otters and whatever...league(?) they were in, surprise Eve and they could share the experience.

A couple days later and Flynn was returning from one of the few malls around them, swinging a bag happily in his hand as he made his way back to the Annex. When he arrived and couldn't hear muffled arguments from Jones and Stone or Jenkins sigh in response to Eve asking him another "quick question", he looked at his watch and saw that it was already past kick off time. The Otters had been mildly successful in the last week or so (well... as successful as anyone in their position could really be) and the store had been busy with glory supporters and kids trying to decide the best way to spend their Christmas money, and in all the chaos he hadn't realised the time. After poking his head around the door of Cassandra's lab to confirm that Eve and Jake had already left he hurriedly whipped out his purchase from the bag and threw it on, getting his limbs trapped in the multiple layers he always wore (he had opted for a regular shirt still from the team's collection of merchandise but had asked if he could still have letters applied to it just like on the jerseys, despite the acne-plagued teen who had assisted him saying the letters might not transfer as well as they did on the jersey material). He ran to find Judson's mirror and began to apply the face paint he had also purchased in the store, carefully writing _OTT_ on his right cheek, followed by _ERS!_ on his left, so anyone looking at him would be able to read it from left to right. He ran right back across the Annex once more hurriedly shoving his shirt, waistcoat and jacket into the bag he had been carrying earlier and set the back door to Eve's apartment, not bothering to check himself over in the mirror once more before he left.

He burst through the door into her kitchen once more, stabilising himself this time. In a sense of déja vu he followed the sounds of cheering to the living room where Stone and Eve had their eyes glued to the TV, Stone hovering over his spot on the couch, half sitting, half standing, Eve kneeling on her crossed legs, eyes gleaming once again. His presence wasn't noted until the pair bumped arms as the Otters gained a miraculous touchdown and he joined in with the cheering, not removing his crossed hands from his chest. They both glanced up at him and Eve's eyes shone a little brighter at seeing him, then she crossed her eyebrows in slight confusion before asking "Hey, we didn't have plans did we? Cause uh...The game just started?"

"No no" he reassured her, "I uh...just wanted to uh...to join you...If that's okay?"

It was at this point Eve noticed the word _Otters!_ painted across his cheeks and beamed as she replied "uh...yeah sure it is! Come on" gesturing for him to sit by her side.

"Okay but wait I have a surprise!" Flynn spluttered in excitement. He unfolded his arms and stretched them out in front of him in a "tah-dah!" motion. Eve and Jake simply stared at him, their faces dumbfounded (okay so he wasn't the athletic type but surely they weren't that surprised). Only the chatter from the television in the background disturbed them in the following few minutes as both Jake and Eve tried to think of something to say. Finally Jake broke the silence.

"I um...I didn't know you were such an advocate of...um...that" he stated, stifling a laugh as he did so. Confused at his choice of words Flynn's eyebrows furrowed and he glanced down at the shirt that Eve was still looking at. He'd been in such a flutter trying to get to Eve's that he didn't even check the shirt once he'd put it on. The 'R' had fallen off, evidently not sticking just as the sales clerk had said, and now the shirt that he had been so excited about read _'Go Potland!'_ Flynn's face fell, wracked in disappointment that his surprise had gone awry.

"Oh" he muttered quietly. Eve who was yet to speak simply stood up and walked across the room to her Librarian. She placed her hands at the top of his neck, half cupping his face, thumbs brushing his cheeks ever so slightly and pulled him in for a long, deep kiss, smiling faintly at the contented sigh he let out in response. She broke away from him releasing her hold slightly as she did, but still maintained a closeness to him, their noses almost brushing.

"Thank you" she whispered, staring deep into his eyes. This was the single most adorable thing anyone had ever done for her. It was made even more adorable by the fact that he hadn't even realised he was missing a letter. She knew he liked watching her during game time, she could tell. He gave her that look that made her heart flutter and her knees go weak. But the fact that he had gone out of his way to get involved in something she was interested in and had even painted his face! Oh god she loved him. Her brilliant and dorky Librarian who she got to love every single day. "I love it. All of it" she reassured him. He beamed at her and she grabbed his hand, entwining their fingers and tugged him along to where she had previously been sitting. She brought her legs upon the couch and nestled back into her spot, leaning in towards Flynn slightly. Her admiration of the brown-eyed Librarian sitting next to her was interrupted by chortling from the art historian on the other side of her. Both she and Flynn turned to look at him questioningly.

"Well...that could have all gone to pot" he sniggered, clearly having spent the last five minutes coming up with the appalling dad joke. Flynn shook his head as Eve rolled her eyes and picked up a cushion from behind her, shoving it in his face before turning back to her Librarian and kissing him once more.


End file.
